What kind of Lee Enfield have I got?

you have a cut down barrel , mauser front sight with vz sight protector. the end cap on the wood is a k98 with the bayonet lug cut off.
 
I like it. That handguard is odd though. The wood past the band seems too long to match any issued handguards, including L39/L42 variants. The entire muzzle end of the gun definitely looks to be from a VZ24, though the barrel is obviously a two groove barrel, indicating the barrel itself is not from a VZ. Odd mismatch, but I'd buy it, if you're selling :).
 
I decided to take everything apart and document whatever markings I find.

Here's the front site protector. It would seem it is indeed off of a vz24.
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The magazine.
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Back of the magazine. Marked "M/8".
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Inside of magazine. Same marking.
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Front site with protector removed.
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Top view of front site. Marked "75" to the right side of the blade.
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The spring on the trapdoor of the butt plate. Marked "B" with a circle around it.
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Metal strap on the back end of the stock. Doesn't appear to do anything. Marked with same encircled "B".
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Top of the barrel. What appears to be "43", and another marking "D/P".
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"7C"?
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"F".
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Front of fore end where metal cap is attached. Don't know if this sheds any light on things.
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What's left after taking most of it apart.
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There are a few other markings. What appear to be half letters/numbers stamped in seemingly random places, and what looks like a "Y" on the underside of the hand guard.
 
Wow...that forend cap job looks pretty well done. Never seen such a combination of parts. The barrel looks to be the original LB one, has 43, C Broad Arrow and DCP(Dominion of Canada Proof) on it.

Someone with skills built this rifle.

Does that make it valuable? Theoretically no, but it seems people like what they are seeing. As a curiosity and a nice shooter it might be worth more than the normal sporter amount.

At first, the quasi-Jungle Carbine forend made me think it was one of the "Royal Marine Commando" specials...but too much else is different than the pattern for those.
 
One of the first Enfield's I bought over 30 years ago was made up similar except wore a No.5 carbine type flash supressor. Very well done, but not legit. Could have been done by a talented owner or one of the many shops back in the day that were creating such things ie: "Tanker" Enfields and such.
 
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The "red" at the front sight has been caused when the Mauser front sight unit was fastened to the barrel. The heat used (for soldering or silver soldering) has caused the metal to change colour. It is also possible that the inside of the barrel , (the bore) in that area is discoloured or scaled if too much heat was applied. The Mauser front sight unit was used because it more or less "fit" the diameter of the barrel when it was cut down, however that "Barleycorn" front sight would probably make it less accurate for shooting than the original Lee Enfield straight sided one. That is one of the reasons the Swedes changed the front sights on their m/96 and m/38 Mauser rifles.

A fairly well done "Bubba" to some people, a nice "Sporter" conversion of a Number 4 rifle to others. Not ALL Long Branch as there are small parts with British markings on them.
 
Now I see what has been done with the handguard and forearm. The tip of the rear handguard was trimmed, rounded and has a new seat filed in to accommodate the new location of the lower band. The area in front of the band has been re-contoured to emulate the original forearm tip, done so to remove the evidence of the original band seat and to install a shortened forearm cap. Really quite well done; very functional while maintaining that original military flair. I like.
 
It appears to have an "R" on the knox form. Check for rust in the bore: I bought a '17 Lithgow that had that "R", and there were two large patches of rust in the bore.
 
The bore is in great condition as far as I can tell. The guy before me seems to have taken good care of it while it was stored away. Mind you, it still needs a good cleaning. I just haven't got the time right now, and I'm not sure how to go about properly cleaning an old gun like this without damaging anything.
 
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